Shoot Em Down is a simple, fun shooting and physics game from Think Octopus.

The leveled gameplay is easy enough to understand. At the base level, there are black boxes that are stacked in different ways. Our sniper looks to shoot them off the platform to reach the knock-off threshold that appears in the top right. Shooting is done by dragging the laser sigh that emanates out of the barrel toward the target, and then releasing.

Shooting is somewhat of a science. Angling is big; for boxes in high columns, one might decide to hit the base of the structure to create a cascade. The elements that are added as progress is made do change the gameplay in the most interesting way. For example, red boxes get added, and these red boxes have a negative effect when dropped. For example, if the threshold to pass a particular level is 30 black boxes, dropping a red box cancels out a black count; in other words, red boxes are to be avoided, and it is even possible to go into the negatives if more of them are dropped than the black ones. Other elements like balances and breakable platforms make the game evergreen.

The graphics are simple, almost rudimentary, but the design implementation works within the concept of the game. Stick figures and such are charming, and he animations mostly observe the laws of physics.

There are a couple of things I really like about the game. I’m old and sappy now, and I like that the developer purposefully avoids human targets, even though that would be the easy and trendy thing to do. No exploding skulls or such; using boxes in different physical situations makes the shooting mechanism more palatable. The puzzles themselves are great, starting out easy enough and progressing to harder stuff.

It can be a great time waster, and is made more attractive that it comes in a free and paid/ad-free versions, the latter being available on the Play Store for $0.99.